Courage of a Sandy-Haired Boy
by JKJessie
Summary: I'm bad at summaries and it's like 5 in the morning, so yeah. It's an ending I was asked to write before Episode 5 was released, so it isn't the canon ending, but enjoy! Has the characters Kenny, Ben, Clementine, Lee, Christa and Omid. Mentioned Christa x Omid.


**This was an ending I was asked to write on a TWD forum BEFORE Episode 5 was released, so obviously this isn't the canon ending. This was a rushed thing that I whipped up in less than ten minutes, so apologies if it sucks.**

Kenny swallowed as he grasped Lee's forearm in a manly hug. "You were always there for me when I needed you, buddy. I just wish I could do the same for you. I feel like an ass, leaving you like this."

"Hey," Lee frowned, "you've gotta do what you've gotta do. There's nothing you can do for me anymore. It's over for me. But you can still go on."  
Lee turned, his gaze resting on the tall, slender woman and the shorter man beside her. "Christa, Omid... I only wish I had more time to get to know you both. It's been a good run."

The corners of Christa's mouth pulled up into a barely-there smile, while Omid limped forward swiftly and crushed Lee into a bear hug.  
Lee hesitated, pleasantly surprised, before wrapping his arms around Omid.

"It means a lot to have had you guys at my back."

A tentative clearing of a throat sounded from behind the sickly male, and he turned, to be face with a young sandy-haired teen who was shuffling from foot to foot anxiously.

"Lee..." Ben began, swallowing audibly. "I-I just wanted you to know... t-that I've always admired you, and stuff... A-a-and I... I'm really sorry for everything. I know I screwed up, I know," he glanced over at Kenny as he said this, "and you have no idea how sorry I-"

The boy was cut off and Lee buried the younger man in his arms. "Hey, it's okay, man. We're good. All of us. We did some pretty awesome things, right?"

Ben laughed breathily. Lee could practically feel the relief radiating from the boy.

"I'll miss ya, bud."

"I'll miss you too, Lee."

Lee couldn't help but notice there was one face missing from these farewells. One small, very important face. He turned to face the docks and his warm chocolate brown eyes caught sight of a small dark-haired girl sitting on the side of the pier, looking as fragile and vulnerable as ever in the light of dawn.

"Clementine," he said weakly, placing a pale hand lightly on her shoulder, "I don't have much time left. But-"

That was all he had to say before a loud sob emanated from the girl and she collapsed into his grasp, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Please don't make me go, Lee! Please don't make me leave you!"

Lee stroked the child's hair, a crystal tear slipping down his own burning cheek as he buried his chin in her hair.

"It's time, Clementine," he said, trying not to let the girl see how upset he was. "But before I go... before you go... I just want you to know one thing. I love you, Clementine. We... we went through so much... y-you're like a daughter to me..." he coughed. He could feel his body slackening. Black spots were already dancing in front of his eyes.

"Keep that hair short, Clementine."

He looked up with the last of his clear vision and saw Kenny grab Clementine and lift her onto his shoulders. He nodded a final farewell to the dying man on the floor, a sad look in his eyes, and climbed onto the boat, where Christa and Omid were already waiting. Omid saluted Lee, a respectful expression showing clearly on his face.

Wasn't there someone missing?

"I-I always trusted you, Lee, I said that, right?" a voice choked with tears piped up from behind him.

Lee turned his head with the last ounces of strength he could muster and looked blearily into the bright, teary blue eyes of Ben Paul.

"I can't let you become one of those things. This is the least I can do for all the times I've fucked up," Ben whispered hoarsely. Lee's eyes cast upon the small pistol Ben was gripping tightly in his left hand. "I-I finally have courage, Lee."

Kenny looked round from the boat, just in time to see Ben's long fingers squeeze the trigger.

"Ben, NO-!" he yelled, alerting the others. He lurched out of the boat and tripped over his feet, looking up from his vantage point on the floor.

Lee's body fell in a graceful arc towards the ground as a loud BANG echoed through the quiet night skies. A few groans coming from a small group of alerted walkers drifted towards them on the air, and Ben looked down at the gun in a mix of horror and disbelief. He turned and sprinted towards the boat, and Omid hauled him up and looked at him with a mix of respect and shock. Clementine curled up and sobbed. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the mangled corpse back on the pier as the boat pushed off from the docks.

Lee's head rose from the wood and swivelled in their direction, as he rose and began limping towards the edge of the pier.

"Lee!" Clementine shrieked, waving her arms and leaping up and down. "Lee!"

Christa held her back and Kenny shook his head, putting his arm in front of Clementine so she couldn't move.

"Lee's alive, Kenny! We have to go back for him! We have to!" Clementine cried, looking at all of them in turn urgently.  
"Clementine..." Ben whispered. "He's not alive. He's not okay."

Clementine turned her head, eyes filling up, and looked at the man standing alone on the pier. "He doesn't look like a walker," she said, but she knew in her heart that she was trying to reassure herself more than anything else. She could see the unnatural light glinting from Lee's eyes, the limp in his step that wasn't there before... and the gaping hole that was ripped into the side of his skull.

As the boat sailed into the ocean with no certain destination, all that you could hear as the sun set was the cries of a small girl and the groans of the undead, as the man stood and watched on the end of the pier. He was a walker, no doubt; but this walker's heart was heavy. His eyes travelled along the length of the distant ship until it disappeared, and he looked back at the other undead of his kind. They were mindless savages. He still had a mind, if just a little. Before he could process what he was doing, his left foot lifted and the water rushed towards him as he stepped off the edge of the pier. Water entered his body, yet he couldn't feel it. He let it happen. Two minutes later, Lee Everett was no more.

There was a shift in the air that day, everyone could feel it. But very few knew what it was. Kenny; the grieving man who had lost his best friend, wife and son in a matter of weeks: Ben; the young boy who was responsible for ending the lives of so many friends, and had now ended the life of the one man he could trust; Clementine, the nine-year-old who was finally tasting the harsh and bitter scent of reality, and Christa and Omid; the once-happy couple whose life was now in shambles.

The world was empty.


End file.
